Analysis on the trend of passenger car Market sales in August in Quanhua Automobile Market

Published: Sep 25, 2020 09:06

The sales results of the domestic passenger car market in August 2020 have been announced. As China's overall efforts to promote epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development have achieved positive results, the overall recovery of economic operation has continued to improve, especially driven by various policies to promote consumption, the main body of the market has accelerated the pace of resuming business and market, the recovery of production and supply has been accelerated, market demand has gradually recovered, employment prices are generally stable, new momentum has grown, and market confidence tends to increase. In this context, the recovery situation of the automobile industry continued to improve, and production and sales continued to grow in that month. Let's take a look at the analysis of the sales trend of the passenger car market in August.

One. Overall sales trend: 14.8% higher than the same period last year

In terms of overall market sales, a total of 1.703 million passenger cars were sold in August 2020, up 0.06 per cent from July. Compared with the same period last year, it rose 14.8% from the same period last year, up 1% from the same period last month. Over the past year, the overall sales of passenger cars have shown positive growth for two consecutive months compared with the same period last year, and the recovery momentum is good, which has also played a supporting role in the growth of the overall automobile market.

According to the cumulative sales data, from January to August 2020, the cumulative sales of passenger cars were 10.995 million, down 18% from the same period last year. Compared with the cumulative situation last year, the cumulative sales of passenger cars increased by 15 percentage points. Judging from the sales volume from January to August, car sales as a whole are still running at a low level, and it will take some time for domestic consumer confidence to fully recover.

2. Sales trend of new energy vehicles: year-on-year growth rate narrowed by 56.5%

In terms of energy types, sales of new energy vehicles in August were 87000, up 2 per cent from a month earlier, up 124.6 per cent from a year earlier and 56.5 per cent slower than in July. Of these, the sales of pure electric vehicles were 77000, up 3.3% from the previous month and 126.6% from the same period last year. Pure electric vehicles still occupy the main market share of new energy vehicles; sales of plug-in hybrid models are 10000, down 7.4% from the previous month and an increase of 102% from the same period last year. It is worth mentioning that new energy vehicles continue to grow this month, and their monthly production and sales also set a new record in August.

Third, the trend of car sales by model level: the proportion of car sales is still ahead of the market.

In terms of model-level sales, car sales in August were 843000, accounting for 49.5%, an increase of 0.9% over July; compared with the same period last year, the proportion of car sales decreased by 0.4%, and overall car sales were relatively stable in the past year. SUV sold 795000 vehicles, accounting for 46.7% of sales, down 0.5% from July. Compared with the same period last year, SUV's share of sales fell 0.6%. SUV's share rose at the beginning of the year, surpassing cars and then declined. MPV sales were 65000, accounting for 3.8% of sales, down 0.4% from July growth; compared with the same period last year, the share of MPV sales fell by 0.5%. User demand for MPV is still much lower than that of cars and SUV, but overall is stable. The changes in the model-level market can see that users' consumption concept is more pragmatic and more practical.

Four. market sales trend by brand type: overseas brands (domestic) are most favored by consumers

In terms of brand type sales, Chinese brands sold 514000 vehicles in August, accounting for 30.2%, an increase of 0.3% over July; compared with the same period last year, Chinese brands accounted for an increase of 0.9%. The proportion of sales of Chinese brands has been on the rise in the past six months, and the gap between Chinese brands and overseas brands (domestic) is gradually narrowing. Overseas brands (domestic) sold 1.108 million vehicles, accounting for 65.1%, an increase of 0.1% over July; compared with the same period last year, the proportion of overseas brand (domestic) sales decreased by 0.5%. Overseas brands (domestic) have maintained a stable trend and occupy the main market share. The sales volume of overseas brands (imports) was 81000, accounting for 4.8%, down 0.3% from July. Compared with the same period last year, overseas brands (imports) decreased by 0.7%. Affected by the epidemic, foreign production capacity declined, and vehicle imports were hindered, directly affecting the decline in the proportion of sales. On the whole, overseas brands (domestic) are most favored by consumers.

Fifthly, the trend of market sales by country: the sales volume of Chinese brands increased by 0.3% compared with the previous month.

Judging from the country's situation, Chinese brand sales accounted for 29.7% of passenger car sales in August, up 0.3% from July. Passenger cars in Germany, Japan, the United States, South Korea and other countries accounted for 28.1%, 25.9%, 9.9%, 3.3% and 3.1% of passenger car sales, respectively. Compared with last month, the share of brand sales in Japan and other countries has declined, and the share of Japanese brands has dropped by 1 percentage point. Although the share of sales has declined, it is still favored by consumers.

Six. market sales trend of each brand: Geely and Changan two major Chinese brands entered the list

From a brand point of view, the five brands with the highest passenger car sales in August were Volkswagen, Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Geely, accounting for 42.0% of the month's total sales, compared with the market share of the top five brands in July. Remain the same. Compared with July, there are two Chinese car companies in the top 10, namely Geely Motor and Changan. Mercedes-Benz, which ranked fifth in July, dropped out of the top five in August, and Geely made it into the top five.

Seven. the trend of regional market sales: the proportion of sales in North China, Southwest China, Central China and East China shows an increasing trend.

The three regions with the highest passenger car sales in August were East China, North China and South China, with a total sales volume of 1.074 million vehicles, accounting for 63.0% of the total. Compared with July, the proportion of sales in North, Southwest, Central and East China is on an increasing trend, with the largest increase in North China, with an increase of 0.7 percentage points. East and South China are relatively developed coastal areas with high income and strong automobile consumption power, which can affect the sufficient scale of automobile consumption. The region with the lowest sales volume is the northwest region, with sales of only 86000 vehicles. The economic capacity of the northwest region is weaker than that of the developed coastal areas, so the overall sales volume of the northwest region is less.

Eight. sales trend by province: the increase in sales share is the biggest.

The five provinces with the highest passenger car sales in August were Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang and Henan, with sales of 187000, 140000, 131000, 128000 and 114000 respectively, accounting for 41.0% of the total sales, of which Guangdong accounted for 0.6% of the total sales compared with July. Compared with 7, the three provinces with the highest sales growth were Hebei, Zhejiang and Beijing, with increases of 0.4, 0.3 and 0.3 percentage points respectively. The economic level of these provinces is high, the population has a higher scale, and the purchase restriction policy also leads to a more stable demand and a higher degree of demand for vehicles, so car sales are less affected. The competition among provinces will be fiercer in the future.

Nine. Sub-city-level sales trend: strong demand power in second-tier cities

The city with the highest passenger car sales in August was the second-tier city, with sales of 408000 vehicles, accounting for 23.9% of the total, down 0.2% from July. Compared with the same period last year, it increased by 0.1%. High-line cities have a large population and strong consumption power. at the same time, the purchase restriction policy has also led to a more stable demand. Compared with July, the sales volume of six-tier cities, second-tier cities and third-tier cities declined to varying degrees, while first-tier cities, fifth-tier cities and fourth-tier cities increased their sales share compared with July.

Ten. Passenger car market segment car sales ranking: Xuanyi won the top sales in August

Finally, let's take a look at the ranking of car sales in each segment of the passenger car market in August 2020. First of all, in the ranking of car sales, Xuanyi won the championship of cars with sales of 48000 vehicles, and the top 10 are all overseas brands. Let's take a look at the sales ranking of SUV. Harvard H6 won the top spot in SUV sales with 25000 vehicles, while Changan CS75 ranked second with a slight disadvantage. Among the top 10 SUV, four are compact cars and three are medium-sized cars. In the MPV ranking, the Buick GL8 won the top monthly MPV sales by an absolute margin, while other MPV cars sold less than 5000 vehicles.

Judging from the specific data, car sales continued to maintain double-digit growth in that month, and the recovery situation of the automobile industry continued to improve. Judging from the development trend of the industry, recent activities such as consumption Promotion month carried out by government departments, new energy vehicles going to the countryside, and policies to promote consumption in various places will effectively boost national consumption confidence. at the same time, the Beijing International Auto Show, which opens in late September, will promote the comprehensive launch of new products by enterprises, superimposing the demand for self-driving trips brought about by the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, which will also further boost automobile consumption. And then increase the popularity of the "Golden Nine Silver Ten" consumption season. However, it is worth noting that the current product structure in the market is changing, middle and high-end products continue to grow, and it will take some time for domestic consumer confidence to fully recover, affecting the demand for low-end products.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

For any inquiries or to learn more information, please contact: lemonzhao@smm.cn
For more information on how to access our research reports, please contact:service.en@smm.cn
Related News
"Premier Li Qiang Leads State Council Meeting on Enhancing Effective Investment, Boosting Economic Growth"
Feb 6, 2026 23:56
"Premier Li Qiang Leads State Council Meeting on Enhancing Effective Investment, Boosting Economic Growth"
Read More
"Premier Li Qiang Leads State Council Meeting on Enhancing Effective Investment, Boosting Economic Growth"
"Premier Li Qiang Leads State Council Meeting on Enhancing Effective Investment, Boosting Economic Growth"
Premier Li Qiang presided over an executive meeting of the State Council to study policy measures for promoting effective investment. The meeting noted that promoting effective investment plays an important role in stabilizing economic growth and strengthening momentum for development. It is necessary to innovate and improve policy measures, and intensify efforts to enhance the efficiency of utilizing funds such as central budget investments, ultra-long-term special treasury bonds, local government special bonds, and new-type policy-based financial instruments. In conjunction with formulating and implementing the 15th Five-Year Plan
Feb 6, 2026 23:56
"Guided by Xi Jinping Thought, Implement 20th CPC Congress Spirit, Apply New Development Philosophy...
Feb 6, 2026 23:54
"Guided by Xi Jinping Thought, Implement 20th CPC Congress Spirit, Apply New Development Philosophy...
Read More
"Guided by Xi Jinping Thought, Implement 20th CPC Congress Spirit, Apply New Development Philosophy...
"Guided by Xi Jinping Thought, Implement 20th CPC Congress Spirit, Apply New Development Philosophy...
Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the plenary sessions of the Party’s 20th Central Committee, fully and faithfully apply the new development philosophy, strengthen top-level design, build computing power interconnection nodes oriented toward national hub periods, major strategic regions, and key industries, establish a system of computing power interconnection nodes, improve the efficiency and service level of public computing power resources, and promote high-quality development of computing power.
Feb 6, 2026 23:54
Indirect Iran-US Nuclear Talks in Muscat Show Progress, Omani FM Mediates Tense but Efficient Discussions
Feb 6, 2026 23:47
Indirect Iran-US Nuclear Talks in Muscat Show Progress, Omani FM Mediates Tense but Efficient Discussions
Read More
Indirect Iran-US Nuclear Talks in Muscat Show Progress, Omani FM Mediates Tense but Efficient Discussions
Indirect Iran-US Nuclear Talks in Muscat Show Progress, Omani FM Mediates Tense but Efficient Discussions
After intensive indirect consultations, the new round of nuclear talks between Iran and the US in Muscat, the capital of Oman, has achieved phased progress. It is reported that during this round of talks, the Iranian and US delegations did not meet directly. Instead, Omani Foreign Minister Badr acted as an intermediary, conveying a series of core proposals, strategic concerns, and policy positions to the other side. The atmosphere at the talks was tense yet efficient. According to preliminary on-site assessments, although both sides continue to negotiate over specific terms, they have reached a consensus on the key objective of "continuing dialogue."
Feb 6, 2026 23:47